Liverpool FC Forum

by **zarababe** » Sun May 29, 2005 2:08 am

Premiership debate four points for away win

Radical changes to be discussed at Premier League annual meeting as fears grow that there are too many boring games

Denis Campbell, sports news correspondent
Sunday May 29, 2005
The Observer

Premiership clubs could receive four points for an away win under plans to be discussed by team bosses who want to make games more entertaining.

The radical idea will be floated at this week's Premier League annual meeting, which will hear calls for dramatic changes to address rising concern that there are too many boring, irrelevant matches.

In a briefing note to chairmen before this week's gathering, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has listed the many challenges that clubs face if the Premiership is to safeguard its status as the world's most popular and most lucrative league. It is a summary of areas of concern identified by the league's Attendances Working Group, which was set up last November to examine whether the increase in the number of matches shown on Sky television - up from 106 to 138 - and prices charged by clubs were affecting crowd levels.

The issues include 'quality of football - negativity, formations, less attacking play' and what many clubs believe is the closely related issue of 'competitiveness of the League - predictability, including points structure'. The recent decline in the number of away fans, the increased number of matches moved from Saturday 3pm kick-offs to suit television and negative impact of misbehaviour by players and managers are also on the agenda.

Several club chairmen and chief executives told Observer Sport yesterday of their fears that the tendency for teams to opt for safety-first football, deploying only one forward in a cautious attempt to avoid defeat, was producing too much dull play, leaving fans frustrated.

'Last season more and more teams played 4-5-1,' said one chairman. 'It may help them pick up more points than they might otherwise have got and increase their chances of staying up, but it's often not exciting. There are too many irrelevant, unmemorable games, especially involving teams in the middle of the table who won't get relegated or get into Europe, and especially towards the end of the season.'

Another chairman said: 'This trend towards 4-5-1 is understandable - the financial consequences of not surviving in the Premiership are serious - but it cannot be good for the Premier League in the long run. There are signs that, combined with the saturation coverage of games on TV and the cost and hassle of attending matches, this could make some fans stop coming.'

Encouraging the visiting team to attack by awarding them four points for a win is one of the ideas to be discussed. Concern about the attractiveness of the Premiership will be heightened by the revelation that matches televised by Sky suffered a 10 per cent fall in their average audience last season. Official figures from the British Audience Research Bureau published last week by TV Sports Markets magazine show that an average of 1.224million viewers per match tuned in during the 2004-05 season, a drop of 9.7 per cent on the previous season's 1.356m.

Club executives say that, with 32 further fixtures being shown and league rules requiring each team to be screened a certain number of times, a loss in the quality of some games shown - and reduction in the average audience - was inevitable. However, league chiefs are heartened by the fact that the total number of viewers watching live games over the course of the season has risen. It went up from 89.5m in 2003-04 to 107.7m, an increase of 20.4 per cent.

The annual meeting may also hear rumbles of discontent about the way the Premier League share out broadcasting revenue and claims that clubs below the unofficial Big Four of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool get too little. But new figures from the League, revealing how much each club earned last season, show the gap between the top and bottom clubs has narrowed. Chelsea, the champions, received £30.7m, while Southampton, who finished bottom, were paid £18.4m.

by **Dalglish** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:43 am

With 11 AWAY games under my belt for last season and failing to see my beloved Liverpool actually win including the defeats to Chelsea in the Carling Cup and 2 fruitless trips to Burnley in the FA Cup I've got NO CHANCE of being allowed to attend away gamnes next season if this comes in

by **zarababe** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:48 am

.. interesting proposal though.. might just make those waya games a rather more spicy ... and Ian you would defo be banned ..

by **Dalglish** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:56 am

zarababe wrote:.. interesting proposal though.. might just make those waya games a rather more spicy ... and Ian you would defo be banned ..

I'll have you know that up till last seaon I rarely saw Liverpool lose Away.

And anyway I didn't see them lose EVERY away game last season .....Only At Everton, Bolton, Boro, Brum, Newcastle, Chelsea, Burnley and Man City ......the rest we drew

by **zarababe** » Mon May 30, 2005 1:59 am

YOUR BANNED.. and that's official ..

by **Dalglish** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:00 am

But But but ........... they let Kewell travel

by **zarababe** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:06 am

.. Ohhhhh Ian.. you got me there wise one..

But definately could change the face of the game .. well almost.. away games would become more important then home ones..

by **Dalglish** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:19 am

I'd be interested to see the PREM table as it would stand had there been 4pts for Away wins this last season to see if it makes any difference to the overall standings .............

I don't think the Prem suffers from over negativity most Saturdays and allowing these changes based upon poor SKY SATELITE TV subscriptions last season isn't in my opinion the basis by which we ought to be introducing rule changes

by **LFC #1** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:42 am

diasgree with it, don't change it if it ain't broken.

by **LFC #1** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:10 am

have done the figures, if away wins had been worth 4 points this season then the league would look like this:

1st Chelsea 110 points (actual position 1st)
2nd Arsenal 95 points (actual position 2nd)
3rd Man Utd 87 points (actual position 3rd)
4th Everton 67 points (actual position 4th)
5th Bolton 65 points (actual position 6th)
6th Liverpool 63 points (actual position 5th)
7th Middlesbrough 60 points (actual position 7th)
8th Man City 57 points (actual position 8th)
9th Spurs 57 points (actual position 9th)
10th Aston Villa 51 points (actual position 10th)
11th Charlton 50 points (actual position 11th)
12th Birmingham 48 points (actual position 12th)
13th Fulham 48 points (actual position 13th)
14th Newcastle 47 points (actual position 14th)
15th Blackburn 46 points (actual position 15th)
16th Portsmouth 41 points (actual position 16th)
17th West Brom 35 points (actual position 17th)
18th Crystal Palace 34 points (actual position 18th)
19th Southamption 33 points (actual position 20th)
20th Norwich City 33 points (actual position 19th)

The difference it would make this seaosn is minimal. the only changes are that we would swap places with Bolton and Southampton uld swap places with Norwich.

The only thing it would succeed in doing is making the gap between the top clubs and bottom clubs even larger, and with the onstnat complaints about it laways being the same top 3 sides, I can't see this helping that situation t all.

For me, it's a no.

by **zarababe** » Mon May 30, 2005 10:33 am

nice one scott.. that's really interesting ..

I doubt it will change .. but u don't know with the clowns who are running our grt game ..

by **looprevil** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:44 am

I wonder if it really would open some of the games up. Wouldn't it make home teams play more defensive not wanting to lose 4 pts to a team around them in the standings. It could have a negative effect. I'd rather see things remain status quo for now.

by **stmichael** » Tue May 31, 2005 12:16 pm

Will never happen.

All these rule changes are simply designed to make the game more interesting for sky sports and the public who want to see more goals and are just overcomplicating what should be an easy to follow sport.

by **taff** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:50 pm

Theyve messed about with Rugby, introducing bonus points for tries scored etc to make it more interesting and attacking but I dont think it really works, it just confuses everyone.

by **woof woof !** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:22 pm

Thought the introduction of 3 points for a win was a brilliant idea . this 4pt idea is just ridiculous . What next ? 1 pt for a nil nil draw and 2 pts for a score draw . Bonus points for x amount of goals scored ? :veryangry

If it's not broke don't fix it .

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4pts for an away win in premiership - Radical proposal for discussion

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